益 → 困

Commentary

Wind and thunder bestow increase, but the transformation leads to the lake drained of water — the desolation of Oppression. Theft and robbery destroy one's person; the second mother shows no affection. The queen has no allies, and her precious spiritual authority is shattered. The verse layers betrayals: criminal violence, a stepmother's coldness, and a queen stripped of support. The 'second mother' who lacks warmth recalls the archetype of the cruel stepmother who displaces the true heir. The queen without a faction embodies power isolated from every source of legitimacy. From Increase to Oppression, the transformation is devastating: the lake has lost its water, and every relationship that should sustain — family, court, heaven — has been emptied. Increase poured into a vessel riddled with betrayal drains away to nothing.